Ba-Bird Statue Greetings Card

Exclusive to the British Museum, a photographic greetings card showing a painted wooden Ba-bird ornament.

The card is part of a range accompanying the British Museum exhibition Hieroglyphs: unlocking ancient Egypt.

This greetings card is printed in the UK and is blank inside for your message.

The image on the card shows a painted sycamore fig wood figure of a Ba-bird, which dates to around 747-30 BC, during Egypt’s Late Period. This Ba-bird, which is depicted as a bird with a human head, wears a beard, wig and collar. Ba-bird were commonly used as burial ornaments during the Late and Ptolemaic Periods, and represented the departure and reunification of the soul with the body after death; an essential part of the burial ritual.

An unusual greetings card inspired by a fascinating history.